17 a Friend Loves at All Times, and a Brother Is Born for a Time of Adversity. Proverbs

17“A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”Proverbs 17:17(NIV)

Recently, I was reading a book by Derek Prince called The Key to the Middle East. As I read through the pages, I once again realized that the people of Israel are the key to history. That might be a bold statement to make, but I stand behind it. God’s purpose for His people is clearly shown throughout the ages. In the twentieth century, it seems that God’s purpose for His chosen peopleis challenging us at every turn to recognize that Israel is our friend and our brother born of adversity. Yet, we Christians have treated our friends very badly. Blamed as the sole people behind Christ’s death, Christians often forget that Christ was a Jew.

During World War II,Archbishop Roncalliserved the Roman Catholic churchin Istanbul. While the Archbishop continued his work for the church, Roncalli worked to help many Jews flee from the Nazi juggernaut. Later, as Pope John XXIII, Roncalli composed a prayer of confession and repentance for Catholics asking God’s forgiveness for our treatment of God’s chosen family, the Jews.

“Let us pray: O God, we are conscious that many centuries of blindness have blinded our eyes so that we no longer see the beauty of your Chosen People. Across the centuries our Jewish brothers and sisters have lain in the blood which we drew or caused to be shed by forgetting your love. Forgive us for the curse we falsely attached to their name as Jews. Forgive us for crucifying you a second time in their flesh. For we knew not what we did. Amen.”

For Archbishop Roncalli, the time of adversity was World War II. Out of the terror and destruction of that time period, Roncalli discovered that Jesus’ brothers were indeed his brothers too. Let us follow Archbishop Roncalli’s example and break the bonds of hatred that bound us together to embrace anti-Semitism. Instead, look past the differences which we permit to separate us and extend the hand of friendship to someone in need of a friend. Who is your brother born of adversity?